


Pale Pink

by ladygray99



Category: Numb3rs
Genre: Gen, Trans Female Character, Transgender
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-28
Updated: 2012-09-28
Packaged: 2017-11-15 05:22:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/523607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladygray99/pseuds/ladygray99
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Don and Charlie talk about their mom and nail polish.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pale Pink

**Author's Note:**

> I have an epic, and unfinished, trans!Charlie story that I’ve been working on for three years or so. Swingandswirl would desperately like me to finish it but until then she likes to poke me for bits and pieces. This is a bit from that ‘verse.

When Charlie first told Don what he… she was going to do Don thought he took it pretty well. After all it was far less weird than the math stuff. And as Charlie went through the process he made a point of just going with the flow, not bugging Charlie, and not asking too many questions. Truthfully he was on the road for 90% of it so he and Charlie weren’t talking much anyway.

There was however the occasional thing that Don just had to ask about.

“Charlie, why do you paint your nails?” The house was full of the smell of acetone as Charlie went through the Sunday night ritual of stripping then repainting her nails. It happened every Sunday, even the middle of math binges. 

“It reminds me of mom.”

“But mom didn’t wear nail polish. At least not that often.”

“I know.” Charlie blew across the pale pink on her left hand. “Our first winter in Jersey there was a bad storm and we were stuck inside for about three days. I got cabin fever and started nosing around her makeup kit just out of boredom. She caught me trying to use eyeliner on my lips and told me that if I was going to do that I might as well do it right. By the end of the day I had my nails painted as well.”

“Sounds like… fun.”

Charlie picked up the little brush and started the much slower process of trying to paint her right nails with her left hand. 

“Do you know why I was jealous of the time you and mom got to spend together?”

“You were jealous?” Don hadn’t know that. He always just thought that Charlie liked being underfoot.

“Yes, because you and mom got to have fun. You two went to the movies or the beach, baseball games with just the two of you. You got to play.” Charlie sighed a little. “With me and mom it was different. It was work. It was classes and tutors and projects, especially after I got to Princeton. That storm was one of the few times mom and me just… goofed around.”

Don had never thought of it that way. He only looked at the amount of time their mom had spent focused on Charlie, not what they were actually doing with the time. “So… Did mom know about…?” Don waved his hand sort of randomly in Charlie’s direction.

Charlie shrugged but maintained serious focus on her nails. “I think she suspected but it’s not exactly something you bring up in conversation.”

“Yeah, I can’t exactly think of a natural opener for that one.”

Charlie put a last swipe of pink on her right thumb. “There isn’t one for that discussion. Believe me.”

Don figured he’d gotten the easy version of that talk since he’d simply stopped by home for a quick visit and found Charlie in a dress with her hair halfway down her shoulder blades. It made for a pretty easy deduction.

Charlie blew on her right nails then reached for the clear topcoat. 

“Do you want some help with that?” Charlie raise an eyebrow at him. “Hey, I’ve had more than a few girlfriends, I can give a half way decent manicure.”

Charlie grinned and held out her hands. “Okay then brother of mine, impress me.”


End file.
